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This may be because of my love of the old Wing Commander series, but I was always wondering of the use of pure carriers in the Imperial/Republic navy. I know of the Escort Carriers from playing TIE Fighter, but was that the only dedicated canon carrier used? I've always thought that an Imperial version of the Tiger's Claw or other kind of Striker Cruiser, with the best fighters coupled with one or two heavy-hitting guns would be a great extention of Imperial power. Has there been such a thing?

Short answer: yes.

Long answer:

Imperial Navy:
Unnamed heavy fleet carrier in Admiral Giel's armada.
Venator
Interceptor carrier.
Prowler (escort) carrier.

Rebel/NR:
Endurance fleet carrier
Defender assault carrier
Liberator (carrier/cruiser)
Flurry (modified Quasar Fire bulk cruiser)
Far Star (modified corvette)

Plus unmentionables.

Yeah. The basic design is a big box with drives at one end, some basic light weaponry, living quarters, and the bridge in front. It's merely the amount of armament/shielding that makes the distinction from converted merchantman, like the Flurry, to a purpose-built design like the Endurance and Defender.

Elheru Aran wrote:Yeah. The basic design is a big box with drives at one end, some basic light weaponry, living quarters, and the bridge in front. It's merely the amount of armament/shielding that makes the distinction from converted merchantman, like the Flurry, to a purpose-built design like the Endurance and Defender.

Endurance is more along the lines of the Venator, carrying only one more squadron then it but being almost the same size. Fun fact, according the Cracken's Threat Dossier, the fighters carried by the New Class ships had squadrons of 36 fighters rather then 12. Presumably this is because they were hyperdriveless microfighters like the Republic fighters were, so they could cram more in there and made the squadrons bigger as a result for some reason.

Ender wrote: Fun fact, according the Cracken's Threat Dossier, the fighters carried by the New Class ships had squadrons of 36 fighters rather then 12. Presumably this is because they were hyperdriveless microfighters like the Republic fighters were, so they could cram more in there and made the squadrons bigger as a result for some reason.

I don't remember the CTD saying that. Could you provide a quote? It would be nice to have confirmation. I really want what you're saying to be true, because 72-144 fighters on a "Fleet" Carrier seems rather small, especially in light of the VenStar.

NRS Guardian wrote:I don't remember the CTD saying that. Could you provide a quote? It would be nice to have confirmation. I really want what you're saying to be true, because 72-144 fighters on a "Fleet" Carrier seems rather small, especially in light of the VenStar.

You rang?

You sure they didn't confuse "squadron" with "wing"? Because as far as i know this is the only place, where a NR-squadron has 36 fighters.

FTeik wrote:You sure they didn't confuse "squadron" with "wing"? Because as far as i know this is the only place, where a NR-squadron has 36 fighters.

Yeah, it is. But they have also had 6-fighter squadrons for a while, and after this 36-fighter squadron, it seems like they went back to 12-fighter squadrons.

But seriously, the fighter squadron listings for the NR BFC ships don't make sense unless you assume that they are all 36-fighter squadrons just like it says for the Corona.

A wing is described as three squadrons for the Defender Assault Carrier. With 12-fighter squads, that's just 36 fighters, same as a Corona. Pretty strange that they would bother having a dedicated carrier 700 m long when you have a 275 m ship carrying just as much without being a dedicated carrier, along with better weapons.

With 36-fighter squadrons, you get 108 fighters for the Defender assault carrier, 216 for an Endurance fleet carrier, and 36 for the Corona frigate.

FTeik wrote:You sure they didn't confuse "squadron" with "wing"? Because as far as i know this is the only place, where a NR-squadron has 36 fighters.

They probably overestimated the fighter complement. Or they were using the dinky "defender" starfighters. Since that frigate is only 275 meters long (rather small to be fitting in dozens of fighters, dont you think?)

Connor MacLeod wrote:

FTeik wrote:You sure they didn't confuse "squadron" with "wing"? Because as far as i know this is the only place, where a NR-squadron has 36 fighters.

They probably overestimated the fighter complement. Or they were using the dinky "defender" starfighters. Since that frigate is only 275 meters long (rather small to be fitting in dozens of fighters, dont you think?)

The Corona is thicker than a N-B, and only carries 12 more fighters compared to the N-Bs RPG stats.
Plus, WWII carriers carried 100+ aircraft and were slightly shorter than 275 meters. So it's not inconceivable that a ship with almost the same armament as a N-B, and is at least the same size as a WWII carrier can carry 36 starfighters.

NRS Guardian wrote:

Connor MacLeod wrote:

FTeik wrote:You sure they didn't confuse "squadron" with "wing"? Because as far as i know this is the only place, where a NR-squadron has 36 fighters.

They probably overestimated the fighter complement. Or they were using the dinky "defender" starfighters. Since that frigate is only 275 meters long (rather small to be fitting in dozens of fighters, dont you think?)

The Corona is thicker than a N-B, and only carries 12 more fighters compared to the N-Bs RPG stats.
Plus, WWII carriers carried 100+ aircraft and were slightly shorter than 275 meters. So it's not inconceivable that a ship with almost the same armament as a N-B, and is at least the same size as a WWII carrier can carry 36 starfighters.

We also had an analyze of the Neb-B's hangar bay a while ago, turned out it worked.

The Venerator was primarily a carrier. It carried significantly more fighters than the later Imperator Class. I imagine the Venerators's seperate fighter bridge allowed it act like an AWACS, controling and directing all the fighters in the area.

Nitpick-- it's spelled Venator, IIRC.

Boy, did I love the Flurry. What a smart, sleek, yet simple design. Kudos to SoroSuub for building the Quasar Fire class.